Pages

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

New Jersey Transit has announced that due to a huge budget deficit, Aberdeen-Matawan train passengers will have one less inbound train (#2306) and one less outbound train (#2309) to choose from on weekdays. Aberdeen-Matawan passengers will have to find a new train if they routinely depart Aberdeen-Matawan on the 7:46 am train for rides to Woodbridge, Newark, or Hoboken, or if their reverse commute to Aberdeen-Matawan puts them on the 5:10 pm train out of Hoboken or the 5:29 pm train out of Newark. Both are Hoboken trains but many people catch these two trains for their commutes into and out of Newark as well. Morning commuters to Woodbridge are also affected.

A 25% increase in fares is also in the works. For a Newark monthly commuter, the new fare will go from $218 now to approximately $272.50. A New York monthly will go from $309 to approximately $386. The new round trip into Manhattan will cost approximately $27.50 instead of the current $22. The new round trip fare will be nearly a third higher than the soon-to-be-eliminated $18.75 off-peak fare.

There will be 11 public meetings on the subject. Our local one will be in Meeting Rooms 2 and 3 at the Monmouth County Library at Manalapan on 25 March from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Ten other public meetings are scheduled. You can also submit comments online.